ALLEN PARK — The Lions may have taken Detroit by storm with their 3-0 start this season, but it's the Tigers who have already fulfilled fans' playoff expectations.

After finishing the season 95-67 and winning the American League Central title, the Tigers will open the postseason with a best-of-five series against the Yankees in New York on Friday at 7 p.m.

Lions head coach Jim Schwartz, a big baseball fan, didn't realize this year's race for the playoffs was coming down to the wire -- he's been a bit tied up, what with the new football season to prepare for and all.

He finally got to catch a few innings Wednesday night.

"Unfortunately, my baseball season usually ends late July," Schwartz said. "This is the honest truth: other than knowing the Tigers clinched – last week, the week before, whatever it was – there's very little time to watch.

"Last night, we finished the third-down meeting about 10 o'clock or so, I flipped on ESPN, and I was mesmerized for about two-and-a-half hours, just flipping back and forth between games. I got a little less sleep because of it, but I had no idea some of those races were going down to the wire like that. It was cool to be a fan last night; I get very few opportunities to do that once the (NFL) season begins."

Even without watching much baseball over the last couple of months, Schwartz knows the importance of an experienced, accomplished manager, like Detroit's Jim Leyland. Especially when that manager can put 24-game winner and Cy Young/MVP candidate Justin Verlander on the mound twice in a series.

"Jim knows what he's doing," Schwartz said. "He's been through that before. When you have the pitching they have, they're going to be tough to handle in the postseason. I really look forward to getting a couple of hours (to watch again) somewhere along the line.